...I did not struggle with weight growing up, but after getting married and having five kids, I had moved solidly into the "overweight" population. In 2006 I was able to lose the extra pounds (50 of them) and get to goal. But staying there, that is another story. Slow but steady, the weight has crept back on over the years. So here we go again ...

Friday, September 6, 2013

Weekly Weigh-In #8

Well ... no official loss this week, actually up 0.4 but I still call it a successful week. With a lot of weekend plans and a holiday on Monday, I knew it was going to be a tough one. I'm happy I didn't see the 160s again, and I'm happy my MFP ticker is reading 23 pounds lost (same as last Friday, but it did slip back to 21, 22 during the week).

So overall I'm fine with it. But when I do look at the exact numbers (calories in, calories out, total burn) I'm not quite as satisfied ... below is a section of the excel file where I keep all my info. The first column is the date ... followed by SleepInfo (time to bed, time up, hours asleep), Weight, Calorie (hopefully a deficit). The first yellow column is Calories In, the following columns show calories burned/total burn**. Subtract the calories eaten from the total burn to get the deficit (dark green column). Total that up for the week ...

According to my numbers, I did have a weekly deficit of 4364, which is over the 3500 standard for a loss of a pound. But alas ... no pound loss. Now I must admit, I'm not super strict when it comes to accuracy in eating. I do not weigh my portions. I try to be honest in my food diary, but I do slip up at times. I know the exercise numbers are also estimates and could be off, which is why I try to allow for extra big deficits, not eating back all the exercise calories. Sometimes the numbers do line up (like last week), sometimes they don't (this week) ... I know I need to be tracking measurements too, I just sure struggle with the measuring tape. TOM is right around the corner as well.

What system do you use to track YOUR numbers?
Do they usually seem to reflect your weight changes?

** (IF you wanted to know what the last columns were ... I like redundancy and as I had a system in place before I got my Fitbit, I still keep my own estimates of exercise and total daily burn and compare them with the Fitbit estimates. The second yellow column is MY exercise estimates (machine readings, etc.) and the Fitbit Adjustment in MFP in blue. The next yellow column is MY estimate of total burn, and the final blue is the Total Burn from Fitbit. My readings are usually more conservative, so I use them here, and then compare them to my weekly report from Fitbit, which also gives me a "total weekly deficit" number).

I use MFP for all food, and Fitbit for all Fitness (and then they sync together). I THINK Fitbit is pretty accurate ... but who knows. It's usually lower than my machine estimates, and I even get a back up reading from my HRM at times too. The few times I've checked MFP fitness estimates I've thought they were high. I'm trying to get the most accurate numbers I can, but I do know it's all still a bit of a guessing game :)

I'm JenB ... this is my journey.

About My Blog ...

As I started this journey (again) I wanted a place to keep a daily diary, to showcase some of the graphs and photos that visually capture the process and to have a place to record my thoughts. This blog is mainly for me... although as long as I'm writing this all down, I might as well put it out there for others to see too.

In addition to my weekly weigh-in, I'll try to post fitness and food features. Because books (reading while riding, or audiobooks while walking) and TV (my entertainment while I elliptical) are part of my journey, I have monthly posts about what I'm watching/reading as well.

Got Graphs?

What can I say ... I'm a visual person. I created this blog in part, to help me keep track of many of my graphs which often only seemed to be available for a limited time. I want to keep them!

Motivational Memberships

Click on the image above to go to my My Fitness Pal page

Click on the picture above to go to my Fitbit page *Ü*

Click on the image above to go to my Walker Tracker page

Pinterest

Hubby & Me ... Nov2006 at my goal weight. I like that my arm actually looks slender. I remember hubby complimenting me on my triceps. I want to get there again!

Summer 2009 ... my 20 year high school reunion. Not at my lowest weight, but still feeling good about myself. Hubby looks pretty cute too! We went to the same high school, so we'd been to his reunion the year before.

I really liked the first two books of this series. I'm not a huge fan of novellas, but I read Roar and Liv and liked it. I noticed my library had this and the 3rd book available (for instant download even!) I decided to give this a quick...

This is being billed as a "Peter Pan" retelling. And it is. It was interesting to hear the familiar names woven in. I did wonder that John and Michael were twins. There was no real reason they couldn't have been a couple years apart, mor...

Three and a half stars ... I bought this on an Amazon sale, three books for $3. I didn't realize that it was really only ONE book and two novellas. I had wondered which to read first (Betwixt or Before) ... I read Betwixt as it was the f...

I heard so many rave reviews about this book. It was on a list of "books to read before they are made into movies in 2014" ... so, I decided to put it on hold at the library. Even though I was 100+ in line, I got the book pretty quickly ...

I read this soon after "If I Stay" and while the stories are different ... a girl in a car accident, waking up in the hospital and dealing with the aftermath, that was very similar. It is also similar in theme to the TV series "Samantha ...

I really liked the first book in this series and was interested to know what would happen to the characters. Perusing other reviews, it seems many liked this sequel more than the first ... but the first is still the favorite with me. I l...

I just read a book about a gal who could walk through walls (Rippler) and here it is again.
I did really like this book. It did grab be from the start, and got me emotionally involved with the characters ... to the point of some tears a...

After reading the first three books in the "Saving Mars" series and really enjoying them, I figured I'd give this series by the same author a try (another one that I managed to snag the first two free in kindle promotions). It started of...

I actually have all three books separately (I was able to snag the first two in free kindle promotions, and I went ahead and purchased the 3rd book). I really liked this series (and will continue on. Books 4&5 are out ... I'm not sure if...

It's always interesting as I come into a series where I know there are prequels and sequels ... as far as the prequels, I wasn't sure if THIS was the book I was supposed to start with. It was a a bit abrupt, not a lot of back story, but ...

Why do I feel guilty giving this a low review? I just didn't care for it. I didn't care for the first book either ... I wouldn't have even read this, except that I felt obligated to, as I received it free from Netgalley. Reflecting back,...

I received this from Netgalley free for review. It was just ok. The writing was solid, the story a bit beyond what I was interested in (old Indian gods and a curse). There was quite a bit of language (F) and sexual situations, so definit...

I didn't hear any specific spoilers ... yet due to the reaction, it wasn't hard to guess as to how this book might end. Personally, I liked the book and felt it wrapped up the series. I couldn't help but feel the "twist" was a bit remin...

This picked up where book #2 ended, and at least this book HAD an ending. Again, if I wasn't reading this just to keep informed of what my child was reading, it would NOT be one I would finish. Not one I would really recommend either, lo...

My son said the first book "was the best book" he'd ever read. My boy's do NOT like to read, so of course I had to check it out. I could see the appeal for a young boy. He then needed to read book three (I guess he'd read book two?). As ...

I did read this right after Timepiece ... not really because I was excited to continue on, but because I had requested it from Netgalley. Having been approved, I then felt obligated to read and review. The three books all had a similar f...

Book one (Hourglass) was one of the first books I read as I got back into reading (after discovering digital and seeing how easy it was to download directly from the library or Amazon). I'd liked Hourglass ok ... it had been a while sinc...

I'd had this on my "list" and it was available at my library, but then it came across the Kindle boards for free, so I snapped it up. I had been a bit concerned when I saw it was labeled as "Christian Fiction" as that can rub me the wron...

... I was always a bit confused as to whether this was titled "Maximum Ride" or "The Angel Experiment" ...
I enjoy YA reads, but this actually felt aimed at an even slightly younger audience (12-13?). It was a decent story. I'm not sur...